S. O. Thomas

As printed in 1905

PROF. S. O. THOMAS.

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At the close of the Civil War, Professor Thomas, linking his fate with that of the West, came to Des Moines county, arriving here in December. 1804, and took up the work of teaching in the rural district schools, After three very successful terms in the country schools, he was called into the service of the Burlington city schools, in the spring of 1867, and this has ever since been the scene of his efforts for the advancement of education, he teaching continuously for approximately forty years (with the exception of three years on account of poor health) in one school. During that time he was the principal, an office which he still retains, and whose duties he has discharged with such marked ability that his re-engagement year after year has always been considered a matter of course, and only modified in the ])public mind by the possibility that he might be induced, i)_\ M>nie of the many flattering offers that have come to him from other cities, to desert the local field. He has always chosen, however, to remain loyal to his first choice; and although the school comprised at his coming only one hundred twenty pupils, the number rapidly increased under his leadership). finally attaining the six hundred mark, with a corps of nine assistant teachers. In i8<>7 the old school edifice was destroyed by fire, and a new and modern structure consisting of twelve rooms, steam-heated, has been erected. In that year also a redistribution of school districts in the city limits cut off a large portion of the old territory, thus decreasing the number of )pupils to three hundred seventy-six: but more modern methods have been adopted, and while the number of pupils has been reduced, the number of assistants has been augmented to twelve, a change which has resulted in a marked increase of efficiency.

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Politically, Professor Thomas is allied with the Republican party, and in addition to his other activities has long been a prominent worker in the cause of religion, being a member of the Presbyterian church, which he has served for many years as deacon, and he still holds that office. As a man and a citizen his long and upright course has won him universal approbation, esteem, and regard, and his record of splendid achievement as an educator is for his adopted State a matter of unbounded pride and self-gratulation.

As printed in Biographical review of Des Moines County, Iowa (1905). See the original pages. Wording is the original; obvious scanning errors have been corrected, and a few may remain.